The Return
by htffan951
Summary: A booming foot step could be heard echo throughout the stone building, inside hundreds of men and women, of all ages quivered in fear. A defining roar could be heard from outside, making several break into tears. "Father are we going to be ok?" asked a small child, clinging to his father in fear. The father never answered, not wanting to give his child false hope.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello once again everyone, and I know what some of you might be thinking. Yes I know that I should still be resting and not writing, but I've wanted to write this story for a long time now. Plus I have a good friend of mine, XcesarulesX, helping me write this story. Right now I am basically writing half of a chapter and then having him write the other half. Now he does have a slightly different writing style, so I will try to blend the both of our writing styles the best I can. Now then with that said I hope you enjoy this story.**

In a time far before the one we know of, dragons were greedy, and selfish, monsters. They would attack, and pillage towns, and cities using nothing but what their ancestors gave them, their teeth, tails, and claws. They would steal what they claimed was valuable from these towns and cities, whether it be gold, gems, or even females of the dominate race of the world, known as humans. However on several occasions, they even fought each other in hopes to claim the others wealth and add it to their own. Years and years went on, and nothing changed. The humans prayed to their gods asking for help in their unending war against the Dragons. Much to their delight their gods gave them an answer. That is when the humans stumbled across something that would turn the tides of the history, steel.

The humans would cover themselves in suits of armor, which protected them from the dragon's claws. They made swords, and spears that could pierce the dragon's thick scales, and they even made large steel arrows that could shoot the dragons out of the sky.

Soon dragons where hunted for sport, and there numbers quickly declined. Despite the dragons more barbaric behavior, they still all believed in one thing, the ancestors. They prayed to their ancestors for help in their time of need, and like the humans gods, there were given new hope, but unlike the humans how found inanimate object, the ancestors used their powers to create new beings, nine monsters to be exact.

The dragons were at first confused by the new beings but didn't question their ancestors. The creatures however did not appear, to aid the dragons in their fight for survival, but instead to teach them. All nine of the creature's possessed a magic that would soon be called elements, and taught each dragon how to control one of their elements. That is all but one. There was one creature of the nine, the most powerful in fact, did not teach them who to use his element, for he saw that it would corrupt the dragons and turn them back into what they once were. Instead this lone creature taught the dragons to work together, and rid themselves of their fiendish manner.

With their new-found powers the dragons were now just as powerful as the humans with their steel. The dragon hunts quickly diminished and even though a few fights broke out every now and then, peace was soon made between the two races.

The two races then left each other alone, never interfering with one another, except on a few occasions. While the humans thrived on their own, the dragons did as well with the nine creatures guiding them every step of the way. The creatures were even given a title, the Elemental Embodiment's, as well as a name for each one of them. For thousands of years there was peace among the land of dragons and humans.

However peace would not last for long as corruption soon spread to an unlikely place. The strongest Elemental Embodiment became corrupted through his own powers, and from that, he corrupted the other Elemental Embodiment's. Then they declared war on the humans once more all because saw the humans as weak creatures that deserved to be ruled over, however nearly half of the dragon race did not agree with the Embodiment's decision to wage war on the humans. So they joined the humans in their fight against the ones they once called their leaders.

Even with the help of the dragons the humans still had a difficult time surviving, as the Embodiment's would join their followers in battle against the humans. The steel weapon the humans used caused little damage to the Embodiment's, while the dragons that allied themselves with the humans made it possible for the humans to survive the battle as their elemental attacks were able to inflict wounds on the Elemental Embodiment's. Still the Embodiment's were masters in their elements, and they nearly eradicated all of human kind as well as their allies in the war.

Just as all hope was lost for the humans, one man stepped forward and gave the humans new hope. This man was named Merlin, and he was an intelligent man. For years he studied the dragons and there elements, and after nearly endless hours of studying he formed a magic of his very own.

In the last war against the Elemental Embodiment's, he used his new-found magic to seal away each and every one of the Embodiment's, deep underground. While there leaders gone, their ally's went into chaos and quickly fell apart.

With the third war finish, several people thought that the dragons and humans would work together and build a new society, however both the dragons and the humans also feared another war breaking out among them, so instead the humans left, and created a new city in the underground caverns far away from the dragons, in a secret location, that was only told to a few trustworthy dragons, in case one requested for the help of the other, and a few hundreds of years later the dragons requested for their help.

A few decades back a new kind of dragon was born, one with purple scales. His name was Malefor, who would be later known as the dark master. War broke out once more with Malefor leading his army against the dragons. However he changed his sights from the dragons, as he heard about the humans and what they are capable of. He quickly sent his army's against the humans in hopes that by eliminating them, the dragons would have no other ally's to save them. His plan backfired though, as when he led his army upon the humans underground city, he was sealed away by the same kind of magic that sealed the Elemental Embodiment's long before. This however did not come with great sacrifice. While Malefor was sealed away, his army still fought on, and the humans were wiped out.

Their deaths though were not in vain as Malefor was sealed away long enough for a new hero to be born, another purple dragon much like Malefor himself. Malefor however even though he was sealed away found out about the new purple dragons egg, and had his army raid the temple it was kept in. In the end though a dragon by the name of Ignitus managed to send the egg down a river were it was later found by dragon flies. They took care of the purple dragon who they named Spyro. In the years to come Spyro would rescue a dragoness corrupted by Malefor's dark magic by the name of Cynder, take down the ape king Gaul, and even face off against Malefor himself with Cynder by his side.

Before their battle, Malefor summoned a creature called the destroyer, and with its help, the world began to fall apart. Spyro and Cynder managed to defeat Malefor, and Spyro used his powers to fix the world before it was completely destroyed, however he could not fix all the damaged that was done by Malefor.

While the world was breaking apart, deep down in the earth, a seal was broken, and eight of the nine Embodiment's where awoken. They screamed, wailed, screeched, and roared as they were released, and quickly made their escape to the world above. That is all except one. This one was more focused on the ninth seal that remained unbroken, the one they called, leader was sealed behind. The Embodiment used all of its powers to break it however it seemed like its leader would not be able to be freed. It was just about to try once more to free him however the world began to piece it's self-back together. The Embodiment gave one last screech before using its powerful wings to fly through the cracks in the earth. And that is where our story begins.

* * *

The war was over, Spyro and his companion Cynder had defeated Malefor, everything was quiet until the rocks that had once been part of the world crumbled and collapsed, the sounds stirred a bruised Cynder. She was far too weak to move but something deep inside gave her the strength she needed to stand. As she stood, she spotted Spyro unconscious in front of her.

"Oh no, Spyro wake up!" Cynder screamed in hope that it would wake up her secret love, but nothing happened. She was just about to cry until a glimpse of light appeared through an opening in the earth. Hope spread through her body at the sign of an opening. "Ok I'll have to carry him out," She said to herself. She managed to grab Spyro with her fore legs and flapped her wings.

She aimed for the opening but as she flew, she though she saw something in the corner of her eye, flying off in another direction. Slightly focused on the object, she was suddenly caught off guard, as rubble was still falling and one small piece tore through Cynder's scales and planted itself inside her left hind leg. She grunted in pain but carried on at supersonic speed eager to get her best friend to safety.

She was so close to the exit but to her despair another rock collided with her head almost knocking her to her doom. She felt her head pound and the world around started to spin. Just as she flew through the entrance, she felt the last of her strength give out, and she dropped. Much to Cynder's relief, the ground had finish piecing itself back together so instead of falling back down into the core, they only fell onto grass. With the last of her strength gone, she fell unconscious.

It wasn't long before Spyro began to stir, but the first thing he saw was his bloodied companion.

"No! This can't be happening," He'd managed to stand, though he suffered much pain in doing so, and as quickly as his body would let him he ran over to her. He looked over her, and the first thought that came to his mind was that she was dead.

He let his though consume his mind, and he began to cry. "Why couldn't I save her? Why does it have to end like this?" He said through his tears, but then he noticed a rock dug into her hind leg. Just then as sudden thought accrued to him. He quickly looked at his surroundings and saw that he wasn't at the core of the earth but instead in an open field in the middle of the night.

"Wait she carried me out, so that means," He quickly put his head to where her heart would be to find it beating. "Oh thank you ancestors she's alive, but bleeding fast," But his problem was solved when he spotted a lake gleaming with pure blue water. "Alright let's get you cleaned up," Spyro said with a big smile, knowing Cynder was alive as long as he cleaned the wounds.

He left her for a short while as he went off to find anything he could use as a makeshift rag. He then returned with a few large leafs in his paws using the moonlight as his light source.

He then carefully took Cynder to the body of water, and dunked the leaves in his paw into the water and began to clean the wound.

He started on her hind legs first due to them being the most damaged. He knew that water would not be the best way to clean a wound as it might be filled with bacteria, but it was better than nothing.

As he cleaned her, she then began to stir.

"Ughhh, what's going on?" She asked slowly with a short whimper of pain after, she slowly looked down to see her own blood mixing with the now reddish water as Spyro dunked the leafs back into the water to get them wet again.

"I really don't know, but what I do know is that we're alive and safe, but just for now stay calm and let me clean these wounds," Spyro said whilst trying to clean Cynder wounds, but every time he touched one with the damped leafs, Cynder let out a large whimper of pain which caused her leg to move.

Cynder couldn't do anything but feel helpless. "I'm sorry Cynder, but bear with it for a bit, I'm almost done," said Spyro, earning a nod from Cynder. "Hey thanks for saving me back there,"

"We saved each other," Cynder trying to ignore the immense pain. She tried to speak again but she was interrupted by Spyro beginning to yank the rock of her hind leg. She yelled in pain and then blood began to run down her leg quickly. "Please stop!" Cynder screeched, Spyro did as instructed and stopped.

"Sorry Cynder, but we need to get this thing out," said Spyro.

"I know but let's wait until we have more medical supply's besides wet leafs, alright?" said Cynder sarcastically.

Spyro gave her a sheepish grin, before saying "Alright it's getting late, we should get some sleep," to which Cynder nodded and tried to walk herself but she couldn't. As soon as she stood, pain shot from her leg and she fell.

As she fell Spyro caught her and used himself as crutches her Cynder. "Just try to hold on, I'll help you," This made Cynder feel even more helpless, she then let a tear fall from her eyes. "Hey what's the matter?" he asked as they soon spotted a cave and as quickly as possible the two made their way to the cave. When they got inside, he laid her down and tried to find out why she was so upset.

"I just don't want to be so helpless and weak. Not only that but when Malefor corrupted me again, it was just too much for me to cope with," Cynder answered whilst fighting the tears.

Spyro felt a slight ping in his heart as he heard this. "You know Cynder you shouldn't feel so bad about yourself. You have done so much, you saved us both before from what seemed like certain death, you helped me keep myself in the light after Ignitus died, and most of all you were always there to aid me in the war, so don't think yourself as weak or helpless, think yourself as a hero. And forget about what Malefor did, I know you had no control over it, and you had no wish of hurting me," Cynder smiled at this and snuggled closer to Spyro.

"Thank you always knows how to make me happy," Cynder said as a few more tears fell down her face. Cynder suddenly yawned as she suddenly felt tired once more. She slowly closed her eyes, and laid her head upon the ground.

Spyro smiled at this, before saying "Good night Cynder, and sweet dreams." Spyro replied curling himself around his friend, making sure everything was ok for her, and as soon as he shut his eyes they were both in a deep slumber.

**And that was chapter one, I do hope you guys enjoyed it. If you did if you wouldn't mind, please tell me what you thought about it. I would also like to thank once again my co-author XcesarulesX for all of his help.**

**Anyway before I end this author's note I would like to quickly give a huge thank you to Cynderheart, Guardian of Light 987, Tirec, Foowd, Necron Dragon Lord of D.A, Adriana W, Riverstyxx, xXShadowTheWolfXx, Eclipse-Sol,** **XcesarulesX, and ArcticDragon Rider, for all of your support, and words when I was ended Panacea. I definitely could not have given myself the courage to write this story if it wasn't for all of your guys help, so again thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone, sorry it took so long to post this chapter, me and my co-author ran into a few problems while working on this chapter. I do hope that you all like it.**

Spyro was the first to wake up the next morning. It took him a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the light that was pouring into the mouth of the cave, but when they did, he stood up carefully as to not wake Cynder up. He stretched his limbs a little bit, but when he finished he glanced over to Cynder. Now that he could see her in a proper light, he saw that she had several cuts along her scales and even a few missing ones as well, but for the most part she seemed to be ok, minus the rock lodged into her leg, and the large bump on her head.

It was then, that Spyro heard his stomach growl. He pondered to himself, if he should leave now, or to wait for Cynder to wake up first. His stomach ultimately made the decision for him, as it growled once more.

"_Well I might as well go hunt for some food, it's been a while since we last ate anything anyway,_" thought Spyro to himself.

Slowly he stood up, careful not to wake up Cynder. When he fully stood up, he quietly walked out towards the mouth of the cave, trying his best to prevent his claws from clacking against the floor. Just as he reached the mouth of the cave, he looked back towards Cynder, and saw that she had curled up around herself, trying to regain the warmth that she lost when he left.

Spyro couldn't help but smile as he looked at her sleeping form. To him, she looked so peaceful, as she slept. It was a lovely sight compared to everything that they had gone through recently.

However he then noticed the cuts and wounds that caked her body. She really needed medical attention. He was pulled away from the scene as his stomach growled once more, demanding Spyro to look for food.

He did as his body requested, and turned around. When he was a few feet away from the cave, he took off into the morning sky. It wasn't long before, Spyro found himself in the Twilight Forest.

Slowly he crept through the tall grass, making as little noise as possible. As he crept along, something quickly sprang through the grass, not too far from him. Moving as quickly and quietly as possible he followed the creature, until he came to an open area.

The creature stood still near the center of the area and began to eat some of the grass nearby. Spyro soon identified the creature to be an elk. A smile crept on Spyro face, as he knew both Cynder and him would eat well if he were to take the elk down. He heart began to beat faster, as the excitement rose inside of him. He took a deep breath calming himself down, before quickly running out into the open area.

The elk heard the noise Spyro made as he jumped out of the brush, but by the time it saw Spyro running towards it, Spyro was already lunging at the elk. Just as Spyro landed upon the beast, he noticed that something else had come out of the tall grass on the other side of the area. This distracted him for a split second. He knocked the elk over onto his side, however since he was distracted for that short moment, he did not fully extended his arms before he landed, causing him to stumble off the elk. Just as he started to turn around, the being that distracted him, jumped over his head, and landed upon the downed elk.

When he faced the elk again, he noticed that blood was pouring out of its slit throat. He then turned his attention to the person who killed his breakfast; he saw that it was a slender white wolf wearing a blue tunic.

Spyro quickly got into a defensive stance as he recalled his time with the scavengers and those two birds, Scratch and Sniff. The wolf quickly raised its bloody paws into the air. "Wow, there dragon, I mean you no harm," said the wolf in a feminine voice. "I apologies, I was unaware that you were nearby,"

Spyro calmed down as he heard this, but was still a little on edge. Then something dawned upon Spyro. "Do you have any medical supplies with you?!" he asked.

The wolf was taken back by the sudden question, but then said "I have a small medical kit, but…"

"Can you help me then?!" Spyro said interrupting her, hoping that the wolf might be able to patch up Cynder.

"Yes I can, but of what purpose do you need them for?" the wolf asked taking into account the minor wounds on the dragon, but by the looks of them they were nothing serious.

"A good friend of mine is badly hurt, and she desperately needs help. Please will you help us?" Spyro pleaded.

The wolf though this over for a moment before saying "Sure I can help, where is your friend now?"

"In a cave not too far from here, follow me," said Spyro as he turned around and began to run back towards the cave.

It took her a bit, but Spyro noticed that the wolf had caught up to Spyro, and much to his surprise, he saw that she was carrying the elk on her back.

The wolf noticed his surprised look and said "Sorry, I know this is slowing me down a little, but I can't just let this go to waste,"

Spyro was about to ask her a question but decided to save it for later, as he needed to focus on where the cave was. It wasn't long before they reached the cave Cynder slept in. Quickly the wolf looked at the sleeping dragons wounds. As the wolf was examining Cynder's forehead, Cynder began to wake up which went unnoticed by the wolf and Spyro. As she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was the wolf's face mere inches away.

Cynder screamed, surprised to see the wolf so close to her. Upon instinct Cynder used her wind element, and throw the wolf away from her. The wolf landed near the mouth of the cave with a thud, as she hit the ground.

Cynder quickly stood up ignoring the pain in her leg, and was just about to attack the wolf even more, but Spyro stopped her, as he jumped in front of her.

"Cynder it's alright, she is not going to hurt you, she is trying to help," Spyro said quickly.

The two dragons then heard a moan from the wolf as she sat up on her hunches and rubbed the back of her head. "Ow that really hurt," she said.

Cynder slowly limped over to the wolf and said "sorry about that, you startled me. I wasn't sure what you were doing,"

"It alright, your friend here had a similar reaction upon seeing me," the wolf said pointing to Spyro. "Now then I would like for you to lay back down so I can fully look over you injury's if you don't mind,"

Cynder did as she was told and laid down. The wolf got back up and continued to examine Cynder.

As she did, a question came to Cynder's mind. "So what is your name?" she asked.

"My name is Zayla. I would presume that you are Spyro?" said Zayla as she quickly glanced over to Spyro.

"You've heard of me?" asked Spyro.

"Only a little, there was a rumor in my village that a purple dragon by the name of Spyro was fighting in the war against Malefor,"

"Do you know who I am," Cynder asked, worried that she did something to Zayla in the past when she was the Terror of the skies.

"Well from what I heard earlier you're Cynder, and taking into account your scale colors, would you happen to be the same Cynder who helped Malefor?" Zayla asked, causing Cynder to worry.

"Y…yes I am," Cynder said with a stutter.

"No need to be scared, Cynder. I have no plans of hurting you. My village was partially untouched by the war excluding a few raids here and there, so I have no grudge against you," said Zayla which made Cynder sigh in relief.

Soon Zayla finished examining Cynder. She then took out some medical supplies she had in a small pouch. She began to apply small amounts alcohol to her wounds, which made Cynder flinch. Afterwards she wrapped up Cynder's chest in gauze, as well as around her forehead. She did however leave the stone lodged in Cynder's leg before saying "I'm sorry but, I can't do anything about that stone in your leg. I would have to take you back to my village for a more proper treatment,"

"That is quite alright, you have done so much for us already. Thank you," said Spyro with a smile, glad that he ran into her earlier.

"Thank you for patching me up," said Cynder also with a smile.

A blush formed on Zayla's face as she rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed by their kind words. She then said "really it was nothing. Still, I'm glad to be helpful. Anyway, Cynder you should be fine for now, I've did the best I could, though I'm no doctor. You should be fine, but better to be safe than sorry,"

"Well then, shall we be goi…" said Spyro before his stomach interrupted him as it growled loudly again. Both of the females just looked at Spyro holding back there laughter.

"Are you hungry Spyro?" Cynder asked sarcastically before her stomach moaned as well, causing the entire group to burst out laughing.

Soon the laughter died down, and Zayla said "Cynder will be fine for now, so why don't we enjoy some of this elk?"

Both Spyro and Cynder nodded, and soon the elk was skinned, and cooked. They then began to enjoy the savoring, juicy, meat of the cook elk, which was quickly cooked and eaten. When they finished there meal, they got ready to head to Zayla's village. Just before they left, Zayla asked, "Cynder if you would like I can carry you to the village?"

Cynder knew that Zayla meant well by asking but she also felt her dragon pride be put into question as well. "No I think, I will be fine," Cynder said slightly angry.

"You sure Cynder I mean she is pretty strong, as well as fast," said Spyro concerned for Cynder.

Cynder glared at Spyro, and said "Really I'm fine,"

Spyro took the hint, and said "Alright but if you need any help I'm here to help,"

To Cynder that was a bitter sweet comment from Spyro. On one hand he will be there to help her, which was one of the things she fell in love with about him. On the other hand though, it made her feel just as weak as she felt the other day. Still she thanked him and the two dragons followed Zayla to her village. Spyro and Zayla had to walk slowly, however and wait for Cynder to catch up.

Spyro asked if she needed assistance every time they had to wait for her to catch up, to which Cynder quickly declined. It wasn't until they had to stop for the fifth time when she let Spyro help her despite how weak she felt by doing so. She placed her left paw onto Spyro's back, and kept her right hind leg off the ground. They began to walk at a much faster pace, and reached the village by mid-day.

As they walked around the village, a lot of the other wolfs who lived there glanced at the two dragons and whispered things to one another but soon they went back to what they were doing. Soon they stopped in front of a building, to which Spyro and Cynder presumed was Zayla's home because as soon as they stopped the door swung wide open and out ran a small gray wolf wearing an orange tunic.

"Mommy!" yelled the young wolf in a feminine voice before jumping into Zayla's arms and hugged her. "Your back,"

Zayla chuckled at her child's antics, and hugged her back. "It's good to see you to Shannon," Once they stopped hugging Shannon noticed the two dragons next to her mother.

"Hi, are you friends with mommy?" Shannon asked with a large smile on her face.

"Something like that yea," said Cynder. "My name is Cynder, and this is Spyro, what's your name?"

"My name is Shannon," the young wolf said before noticing Cynder's wound. "Oh no your hurt, let me go get daddy, he can make you feel all better," and with that said the wolf quickly ran inside.

"Well she is quite energetic," said Spyro as he watch Shannon run into the house.

Zayla chuckled again. "They always are at her age,"

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you bring us here? I mean why not a hospital or something like that?" asked Cynder.

"Well you see, my husband is a doctor, so he should be able to help you. Besides if I took you to the hospital then you would have to pay for the treatment, however I have my ways of getting my husband to do it for free," Zayla said with a sly grin.

Spyro and Cynder didn't really understand what she meant by that, but they paid no attention to it. If it meant free service then who are they to complain.

Just then Shannon came out of the house followed by a black wolf wearing a green tunic.

"So what am I doing now?" the black wolf with a blank look on his face.

"Well Cyrus, this is Spyro and Cynder, and as you can see Cynder has a rock lodged in her leg," said Zayla.

"And you want me to heal her wounds?" Cyrus asked, earning a nod from Zayla. Cyrus sighed, "Sweetie, you know I can't give out free examinations," he said keeping his blank look on his face.

Zayla chuckled to herself at her husband's comment. "Shannon dear, why don't you take Spyro and Cynder inside, your father and I are going to have a little walk around town," Zayla said, causing Cyrus's ears to perk up.

"Ok mommy, come on Spyro, Cynder let me give you the grand tour," said Shannon as she pulled on Spyro's wing slightly.

Spyro and Cynder followed Shannon inside, and when the door closed behind them Zayla turned towards Cyrus and said "now about that free medication,"

Inside the house Spyro and Cynder were rather amazed by the inside of the home. The house itself was completely wooden, as was the furniture. Shannon then began to tour of her home starting with the living room, followed by the kitchen, then the basement, and then her parent's room.

"And finally what has to be the best room in the house, mine," said Shannon as they walked into the final room.

Upon entering, not much to Spyro's and Cynder's surprise it was very girly as it was filled with straw dolls, small wooden animal carvings, and a wooden doll house over in the corner.

"Well I have to say that it a very nice room," said Cynder not wanting to be rude.

This seemed to make the young wolf very happy to hear as she made the largest smile both Spyro and Cynder have ever seen. Shannon then quickly ran over to where she kept her straw dolls and grabbed one of them and handed it to Spyro.

"This one is my favorite, her name is Milva, she is big and strong just like mommy," said Shannon.

Spyro took the doll in his paw and examined it. The Doll, had blue fabric wrapped around it, held together by a blue string. Spyro showed it to Cynder and she had to admit the craftsmanship was incredible, or at least, as incredible as a straw doll could get.

"Who made you all of this stuff?" asked Cynder as she examined the doll some more.

"Well mommy made the dolls, and daddy made the doll house and the carvings," replied Shannon.

"Well they are very nice, you a very lucky child to have such great parents," said Cynder as Spyro handed the doll back to Shannon. Cynder's mood saddened slightly, as she was slightly jealous of Shannon for her seemingly care free joyful life.

Shannon must have noticed Cynder's slight change in mood, so she said "do you want to play with me?"

Both Spyro and Cynder were surprised to hear the wolf ask this. "Um well I'm not really sure that I can, seeing as, well…" said Cynder glancing at her injured leg.

"Oh, alright," said Shannon in a depressed tone sadden that she help Cynder's mood.

Cynder instantly felt remorse for the young wolf, and felt bad for saying no to her request. Spyro picked up on this and an idea came to mind. "Hey Shannon have you ever rode on top of a dragon before?"

"No I haven't," Shannon said hoping that she knew what Spyro was hinting at.

"Well if you want we can go into the living room and…" said Spyro but before he could finish Shannon squealed and ran out the door towards the living room.

"I take it that she does," said Cynder sarcastically as she watched Shannon run into the living room.

"Really? I never would have guessed," Spyro also said sarcastically.

"Well don't keep her waiting, let's go after her, oh noble steed," said Cynder with a chuckle.

Spyro couldn't help but roll his eyes and chuckle as well.

About half an hour later both Zayla and Cyrus returned home. From the outside they could hear Shannon shouting with laughter. As they walked inside, they saw that Shannon was on top of Spyro, and holding his horns, as he flew around the room, all the while Cynder watch on the couch.

"You guys seem to be having fun," said Cyrus with a smile, happy to see Shannon having fun with Spyro and Cynder.

When Spyro heard this, he descended and landed on the ground. He lowered himself so that Shannon could get off his back. After she did, she quickly ran over to her parents and hugged them, to which Cynder smiled, and Spyro was reminded of his own family.

Zayla kneeled down so that she was eye level with Shannon and asked, "Did you have fun?"

"I had loads of fun, I was all like whoosh, and wee, as I flew in the air," Shannon said excitedly.

"And did you thank Spyro for the ride?" her father asked.

Shannon quickly gasped and over to Spyro. She hugged him and said "Thank you Mr. Spyro for the ride.

Spyro was rather surprised by the sudden hug, but soon smiled. "You are quite welcome,"

Cynder couldn't help but smile at the scene. She let out a joyful sigh before saying, "So Zayla, what are we going to do about this infernal rock?"

Zayla didn't answer but instead looked towards her husband, waiting for him to give Cynder an answer. Cyrus sighed in defeat and said "Well after much talking with my wife… I guess I can fix up your leg for free,"

Both Spyro and Cynder were delighted to hear that.

"If you will come with me and Zayla so we can fix up your leg,"

Spyro quickly walked over to Cynder and helped her to the room. Once inside Cyrus examined her leg. He began to rub his chin before asking, "If I remember correctly you dragons can use red crystals to heal such wounds right?"

"For the most part yes, but we never experienced such a major wound before so we are not sure," said Spyro.

"Well from what I can tell this rock has not only embedded itself into your leg but it seems to have broken it slightly. Hey Zayla!" shouted Cyrus.

"Yea what is it?" shouted Zayla from another room.

"Can you go out into the forest and find me some red crystals?"

"Sure thing dear,"

Not too long after they heard the front door close. Focusing back on Cynder's leg, he quickly left and grabbed a roll of medical tape, and a clean rag. "Now this might hurt a little," he said before grabbing the rock and swiftly pulled it out.

Pain immediately rocketed through Cynder's body, as she held back a scream. Blood quickly poured out of the wound, and Cyrus used the clean rag and placed it on top of her wound and wrapped the medical tape around it to keep it secure.

"Now I'm just going to need you to stay still until Zayla comes back with those crystals alright?" Cyrus asked, to which Cynder nodded. As they waited, Spyro and Cynder passed the time by telling Cyrus about some of their adventures. Later Zayla came back with a hand full of red crystals and gave them to Cynder. Cyrus removed the medical tape and rag, before Cynder smashed the crystals. The wound quickly healed up, and left a small scar as a reminder what was there.

"How do you feel Cynder, can you stand?" asked Spyro.

Cynder began to stand, and for the most part she was alright other than a little sore. She then began to take a step forward, but as she did she felt pain come from her leg and she grunted.

"Hmm, it seems like your leg is still slightly broken. I would advise you not walking on it for the time being. Let me quickly make a sling for you," said Cyrus. After Cynder thanked him, he left the room only to return with a leather sling. He placed the sling around her injured leg, and tied it together around her waist.

"Thank again for your help Cyrus," said Spyro.

"Hey don't thank me, thank my wife," Cyrus said while pointing to Zayla.

"Well than thank you to," said Cynder.

"You are quite welcome Cynder. I'm sorry it took me so long to get the crystals, but it was rather hard to find them in the dark,"

Both Spyro and Cynder looked out the window and much to their surprise they saw that it had grown dark out.

"So now that your leg has mostly healed what do you plan on doing now?" asked Cyrus.

"It's pretty late so why don't you two stay here the night?" suggested Zayla.

"You sure?" asked Spyro, "We don't want to be a bother,"

"Oh it's quite alright you're not a bother at all, besides Shannon seemed to like your company," said Zayla.

"But what about food? I mean you were hunting earlier," said Spyro.

"Oh don't worry about that, Zayla here likes to as she like to do it to stay true to her 'ancestor's' ways, and likes to hunt all the time," said Cyrus while rolling his eyes

"And you should to, Cyrus," nagged Zayla.

"Please dear not in front of the guest," Cyrus said with a sigh.

"Oh fine," Zayla said disappointed. "Anyway, so what do you guys say?"

Spyro and Cynder glanced at one another for a seconded before Cynder said "Sure we would love to,"

Later that evening, Spyro and Cynder joined Shannon, Cyrus, and Zayla at the table and ate some of the best food; Spyro and Cynder have eaten in a long time. As they ate, Spyro and Cynder were asked questions about their journey, mostly from Shannon. Later when they finished dinner, Zayla put Shannon to bed.

When she rejoined the group in the living room Spyro asked "How old is she?"

"She is only five years old at the moment," replied Cyrus.

"Yea it came to us as a rather bit of shock when I found out that I was pregnant actually, since we were not even married beforehand," said Zayla.

"But that didn't stop me from loving you honey," cooed Cyrus.

"Oh you're too sweet," Zayla said before giving Cyrus a kiss. "So what about you guys? Certainly there must be some one that you have your eyes on,"

"Well the war just ended, so we really didn't have any time to look for anyone," said Spyro.

"Oh I'm sure you two both have someone in mind, someone very close to you," said Zayla with a smile.

Cynder took the hint, and had a huge blush on her face; however Spyro remained oblivious to what she was getting at. He did however notice Cynder's blush so he asked, "Hey Cynder you alright? Your face is all red,"

This made Cynder blush even brighter, and she looked away. "Yea I'm fine, don't worry about it," said Cynder quickly.

Both Cyrus and Zayla laughed at the sight before them. Spyro remained confused on why they were laughing and why Cynder wouldn't look at him. When things returned to normal, Zayla asked "So what do you guys plan tomorrow?"

"Well me and Cynder figured that we should had back to Warfang, however we have only been there once so we don't really know which way to go,"

"I can take you there," said Zayla.

"You know where it is?" Cynder asked surprised to hear that from the wolf.

"A few times yes, Zayla and I had to make a few trips there for several medical supplies when the hospital here was running low," said Cyrus.

"That would be fantastic if you could, but who will stay and watch Shannon?" asked Spyro.

"I can take a day off work to watch her while Zayla takes you guys back," Cyrus offered.

The two dragons sat still amazed by all the things the wolf family have done for them.

"Thank that would mean so much to us," Cynder said.

"Hey no problem, though you guys might want to go get some sleep now, it's a long journey to get there," Zayla told them.

Spyro and Cynder did as they were suggested and decided to get some sleep. Zayla told them that they could use their bed, to sleep in while Cyrus and Zayla slept on the couch and chair. Despite Spyro's and Cynder's objection to this, Zayla gave them no other choice. Inside the room it was decorated with a fur carpet, some tables made out of wood and a massive bed able to fit two dragons in it. Spyro and Cynder were surprised how wolfs were capable of this.

"So who's getting the bed?" Cynder asked.

"What do you mean? We'll have to share it. Spyro replied both slightly embarrassed and happy about it. But this didn't stop Cynder from blushing again. "Seriously Cynder why does your face get red like that, are you still injured somewhere?" He wondered as he looked over her body for any injury's the wolfs might of missed.

"Oh it's nothing but I'm very tired." Cynder sighed. They then walked towards the comfy looking bed and lay in it and just like they thought it was extremely cozy. Cynder lay with her back to Spyro, but she felt something warm press up against her, it was Spyro but Cynder then asked. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to make everything perfect for you, for example keeping you warm the season of cold is coming up rather soon." Spyro replied with tiredness in his voice.

"I'm fine Spyro you don't have to do this." Cynder argued.

"But that's beside the point, I want to do this because your my best friend almost like a sister to me, and when anyone I care about is in need I'll help them no matter what," Spyro cooed.

Cynder wanted to argue, but decided to let it go. "Okay, goodnight" said Cynder. She then began to slumber as well but as the night swirled on, a nightmare came with it.

That night in Cynder's dream there were flashes of deep orange which developed into raging fires, she just stood there to unable to move.

"What's going on?" She asked herself. She heard several things all at once. The sound of the roaring flames, the screaming of others, but there was one sound that stood out among the rest. She heard something neighing. Confused she struggled to move, but no matter how hard she tried her body would not respond. She heard the neighing again only this time close, and close, until she could hear the clopping of its hooves on the ground over the sounds of the flames.

Cynder was more confused than frightened as the beast drew closer. But then the flames were suddenly frozen making the room darker than any night, Cynder had ever see. This was then followed by an ear piecing roar.

The flames were quickly shattered as the ground began to shack and large booming sounds were coming from behind Cynder's. They sounded a lot like footsteps and Cynder tried to turn her head but like the rest of her body, it would not respond. They only think she could move were her eyes. The booming footsteps suddenly stopped, and were replaced with several quick flaps of wings. Out of the corner of Cynder's eyes she saw a large red feather, as big as her paw lightly fall to the ground, and just as it hit the ground a screech louder than thunder echoed throughout the endless void.

Soon the sound of beating wings was gone. Cynder Stood there confused. What was going one, were was she, and what is making all this noise, were some of the thoughts that ran through her head. A new noise came to her ear holes, as the sound of a male scream, one that chilled her to the bone. The scream grew louder and louder, until Cynder clenched her eyes shut, in hopes that the screaming would end.

Shortly after it ended, and she opened her eyes, only to be greeted by a pair of large glowing eye staring only a few inches from her face. Cynder was shocked to see this being so close to her. The creature noticed that Cynder is now looking at him, so it drew a breath and blew out a dark mist. She was granted movement, as she flinched and began to stumble backwards, as the mist burned her eyes. She used her paws to wipe away the substance in her eyes, but she stopped as she felt the back of her tail touch a large scaly object. Her blood ran cold as she heard several hissing noises coming from right behind her. And just as quickly as she noticed it, it disappeared, and the hissing stopped. She felt around with her tail for the beast only to find nothing. She resisted the urge to turn around in fear that it would still be there.

Just then Cynder heard the beating of wings again, only this time it sounded like there were multiple wings, as they created multiple rhythms with each beat. Once again another screech was heard, and Cynder was suddenly through backwards by a sudden burst of wind.

Cynder quickly got up scared and confused as to what was going on. She glanced left and right, searching for something to appear out of the darkness. She turned around and saw a single spot light beaming down from the sky.

She then heard footsteps then a thump. Glancing downwards, she saw Spyro lay upon he black floor, a large part of his chest missing.

Cynder lay there in shock as smoke rose out of the gaping hole. She stood there frozen at the sight. Then a mumble came from Spyro. Quickly she ran over to him, glad to hear that he was still alive somehow.

"Oh thank the ancestors your all righ…" stared Cynder before she was interrupted by Spyro saying

"It's all your fault, why didn't you save me?"

Cynder felt rather hurt by his words, and said "Spyro I'm sorry I didn't know that you…"

Spyro quickly stood up, blood began streaming down the hole in his chest, though Cynder pain no attention to this as she was gazing into his empty eye sockets.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME," shouted Spyro. "YOU TURNED YOUR BACK ON ME WHEN I NEEDED YOU,"

Cynder began to burst into tears. "No, don't say that," she said not wanting to think about the possibilities of her causing his death.

Spyro's mouth remained closed; however his words began to echo inside Cynder's head, driving her mad.

"No," she mumbled herself, trying to remove the voices in her head. "NO!" Cynder lost all hope and screamed out in terror, and she began to fall. She was screaming as she began tossing and turning, flipping over and over, as she descended deeper and deeper into the void, her wings unresponsive. Then a voice spoke.

"It's time to end this nightmare," It said, Cynder then hit the ground hard. She quickly stood up and glanced all around her, fearing that whoever's voice she heard would appear. Then she heard the sound of paw touching the ground behind her. She slowly turn around to see a figure running swiftly towards her, the only thing she saw was its bloody teeth ready to kill, before Cynder awoke from the nightmare with a yelp of fright which was enough to wake up Spyro.

Spyro quickly jumped frightened by Cynder's sudden scream. Glancing over to her he noticed the sweat pouring off of her and the face that looked like it'd seen a ghost.

"Cynder what's wrong?" Spyro asked, concerned for her.

"I've just had without a doubt the worst nightmare ever." Cynder replied now starting to cry from the memory of the dream. Spyro gave her a sad look and nuzzled her gently under her chin

"Hey don't be scared, I'm still here and whilst I am you've got nothing to worry about. Come on get closer," Cynder swiftly accepted his embrace. He then slowly began to run his muzzle up and down the side of her neck, this soothed her a bit, but she just cried in Spyros shoulder. "It's alright I'm here now, I'll always be," He cooed.

"Thank you so much." Cynder said between tears. They stayed there for a little while longer before Cynder fell asleep again in his arms. Spyro just sighed at the sight of this sleeping beauty he muzzled her lovingly and whispered.

"Sweet dreams, my love," Spyro said with a sigh. Soon he fell into a slumber and everything was well again.

The next morning came fast; Zayla packed some supply's and got ready for the trip. Just before they left, Shannon quickly hugged both her mother and Spyro, while thanking him for the wonderful time. When they all said their goodbyes, the three left the village heading towards Warfang.

**Alright then, what do you guys think of this chapter? I do hope that I didn't make Shannon annoying to any of you readers. Also In my last chapter I forgot to thank a friend of mine named Nevesrulesall for his help when I wasn't felling to good about my writing. He posted his first story, which is a Misc. Anime/Manga story. It's not too bad, so you might want to check it out. I have a link to her home page on my profile page.**

**Also I would like to thank my co-author XcesarulesX for all of his help with this chapter. I couldn't of gotten to far without his help. I hope you all have a fantastic day.**


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